''Coward v MIB'' was a 1963

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

decision on intention to create legal relations, and on the liability of the Motor Insurers Bureau when a passenger in a vehicle is killed or injured through the driver's

negligence Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances. Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a neg ...

. The decision was disapproved and not followed in two subsequent "lift-to-work" cases, '' Connell v Motor Insurers Bureau'' (1969 CA) and '' Albert v Motor Insurers Bureau'' (1971 HL).

Facts

Coward was a pillion passenger who was killed in a motorcycle accident for which the rider was responsible. The negligent rider was both a colleague and a friend. The accident occurred on the way to work. As the rider's insurance policy excluded pillion passengers, Coward's widow was obliged to claim damages from the MIB. The MIB would have liability only where insurance for the pillion was compulsory; and at the time insurance was compulsory only if pillions were carried "for hire or reward". Coward had paid the friend a small weekly contribution for the daily trip, and the widow argued that this amounted to a contract for hire or reward. The MIB countered that carriage for hire or reward required to create legal relations, and that on these facts (an agreement between friends), there was no such intention.

Decision

The Court of Appeal held there was no contract of hire or reward as it was a social and domestic agreement without intention to create legal relations, and that the widow was not entitled to compensation.

Subsequent decisions

In ''Connell v Motor Insurers Bureau''

Lord Denning Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning, (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999), was an English barrister and judge. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when he w ...

, MR, sitting in the Court of Appeal declared that he was "not happy with the decision in ''Coward''", adding that "when a man gives another a lift in return for money there is a contract, albeit informal". Denning refused to follow ''Coward'' and declared that a car driver who gave friends a lift in return for cash or other valuable consideration was indeed acting "for hire or reward". Strictly speaking, Denning was in breach of the rule that the Court of Appeal is bound by its own earlier decisions; but in ''Albert v Motor Insurers Bureau'' the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

in 1971 approved the ''Connell'' judgment in preference to that in ''Coward''.The Law Teacher - ''Albert v Motor Insurers Bureau''
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References

{{Italic title Vehicle insurance English contract case law